Twins

Summary: It couldn't be. This was just too scary. Blaise gave a genuine smile. "Hey sorella…" he paused as Hermione's eyes grew wide. He finished, "…sis."

Chapter 1

She lay, sprawled
out on her bed in a muddle of cream and gold comforters. Her breaths, softly in
sync with the movement of her chest rising and descending. It was her birthday,
her first birthday after the war. Ever since third year she felt that petty
things like birthdays were far less important than the situations at hand, and
now that the Dark Lord was gone, she felt an obligation to indulge her birthday
with a morning of sleeping in.

She was at home, her muggle home, with her
parents downstairs pacing the hall, preparing for the day ahead. It would be a
very big day for her indeed. McGonagall allowed for the prefect’s leave from
school for her birthday weekend, the war making her aware of the preciousness
of family moments and friends. The new headmistress found it appropriate to
grant Hermione absence. After all, her birthday did come on a weekend, and by
the judgment that this was indeed, Hermione Jean Granger, she had finished her
schoolwork in the last week or two. McGonagall also recognized the need for
Hermione to spend time with her family, they had lost their memories
(temporarily I may add) in the war, and her parents were still hostile with her
actions.

Shifting her weight in the small bed, the
glimpse of early noon sun entered through Hermione’s tresses. Her lashes
fluttered awake and she welcomed the new year of her life with a wide grin. She
was eighteen, now of age to do magic outside of Hogwarts, not that she hadn’t
done it in the past without the Ministry knowing. Her age now signified the
seven years she has spent in adventure and war, seven years of love, hurt,
pain, and memories. Lifting her self out of bed, she came to the realization
that she felt different. She felt smaller, more comfortable, more confident,
and more beautiful. Birthdays did that to you, but this birthday, as she was
soon to find out, was very different.

Two nights ago…

“Yes Professor?”
asked Blaise Zabini.

“Mr. Zabini, I
requested you to my office for a confrontation-”

“I haven’t done
anything wrong this year Professor, it only just started two weeks ago.” Blaise
interrupted, his hands breaking into a cold sweat and the back of his neck
prickling with worried hairs, who would spread rumors this early in the year?

“That is not what I
was implying Mr. Zabini. Your mother and father requested they talk to you,
seeing that they had no chance in speaking to you before the year was
initiated.”

“My m-mother and
f-father?” The warmed skinned Italian gaped at the headmistress.

“Precisely Mr.
Zabini, you may go down those doors on the right, they are expecting you.”

With a small nod,
Blaise left McGonagall’s office, the portrait of Albus Dumbledore smiling at
the new headmistress, the same twinkle in his eye.

Entering the room,
Blaise sensed the Zabini matriarch and patriarch as he caught a whiff of their
perfume and cologne mingling in the air. Staring at the fire ahead of him, he
heard the shuffle of dress robes as they made their way towards him.

“Ciao, Blaise.” Greeted the warm smile of
his mother, enveloping her son in a hug, later followed by his father with an
equally warm embrace. Unlike the Malfoys, the Zabinis have always been a very
warm family, knowing that they must rely on each other at all times.

“Mum, Father.” He
greeted. He was very curious to why his parents have come to Hogwarts were, at
this time of year, they should be in their family home in Florence.

Acknowledging the curiosity
in his son’s eyes, the patriarch began to shift the mood of the room. In a
serious tone, Blaises’ father spoke, “Your eighteenth birthday is to come in
the next two days, I remember.” His son nodded. “Your mother and I…” The
patriarch’s throat suddenly went dry and he angled his head to look at his wife
with sincere eyes. Recognizing the difficulty of the situation, Mrs. Zabini
took it upon herself to be the one to initiate the news. Clearing her throat,
she shifted her arms so she had her son face her. She looked deeply into her
only son’s eyes, inherited by his father, and spoke in a clear, dignified tone,
“We have been keeping something from you.” She searched her son’s eyes for any
surge of response. Watching a flash of light reflect from the surface, she
continued, “Blaise…you have a twin sister.”

CookieMonster911:
The story overall was an adventure that is appealing to any age. The way the characters develop adds a more human characteristic to the novel. The writing style itself is amazing because you can learn every character's thoughts and emotions. The awkward love triangle and jerk moments adds to the ...

Elizabeth Robbins:
4.5 starsAs far as apocalypse stories go, this one took a new direction. I'm glad someone finally addressed the need for a vampire apocalypse! This is sort of a multi-genre festival of delights. With hints of forced societies, vamps, hunters, romance, apocalypse, government conspiracy, and thrill...

LouiseJ2:
I enjoyed the detail you went into with regards to the case. It made the UNSUB appear believable. The crisis in the middle of the story was my favorite part, very dramatic but not over the top. I feel like sometimes pairings can be overdone but I liked that some of the relationships were a little...

Jean Tryon:
As a beta, I found this story outstanding!! Plot, grammar, phraseology, etc Rachel gives us it all. She takes the story into the future from where due South ends. She is an exacting and thoughtful author.

Hudson:
Your story was fantastic Erin! The Rising Sun was one of the first stories I read on Inkitt, and I have to say I don't regret the three to four days I spent pouring through the story.Probably the biggest strength I see in your writing is your characterisation of Eliana, Oriens, and the rest of th...

Ruby0h:
Overall I thought your story was really good! It drew me in right away and kept me interested as the story progressed. I loved the character of Kayla being inserted into this story, and the way she affected and shaped the life of the original story into something totally new and interesting. I lo...

Alex Reltin:
This is a great story! I love how well you go into detail and emotions of Capri, and Mel. You have amazing dialogue and overall it's just a thrill to read!The only critique I could find is that some of the paragraphs should be separated. For example:-"If Nia would have just let me take the car an...

dd1226:
I love reading about other countries and I think this story about Cambodia after Polpot creates awareness of the tragedy that happened there and the actions of the U.N. to hold elections. The heroine of the story is easy to relate to, a modern, middleaged woman looking for an adventure, wanting t...

Jordan Young:
*ALERT FOR POSSIBLE SPOILERS* Where to start? I don't know how to sum up this review, this story was absolutely sensational. Brilliant. Flawless. I loved every single bit of this story, it is truly amazing. I read this story in fifteen hours, it is magnificent. I loved everything about it, the p...

263Adder:
Okay so I adore this story. I only knocked one star off plot for historical inaccuracies because I'm a bit of a stickler for that. The ending broke my heart though, considering you already changed history couldn't you (SPOILER) change it a bit more and have them together!!!! I want an alternative...

Chris Rolfe:
BOY!!! I sure love what Aer-Ki Jyr did with this series. IMHO he captured the essence of what stargate is all about. Thru out the Stargate stories Aer-Ki wrote Stevens and John Shepard some of the main characters in his stories are pursued by a corrupt I.O.A.. All the while Stevens is changing in...

_JosephJacobson_:
I don't understand why this has such low ratings. I really enjoyed it!I think that the whole idea behind the plot had something very special and that was something that I really enjoyed. It was new, unique. I think that some of the writing was a little strange in places but overall it made sense ...

Jenn Deering:
This is a go-to story for when you're needing a little happiness in your life. It's well-crafted, and characters are true to their show-selves. The pace is right, there are minimal grammatical errors, and the plot is fresh.